EARTH DAY 2012

HAPPY EARTH DAY!!

      I love that there is an international official holiday dedicated to the celebration of our Earth and its health. Although I think people should be more aware of environmental issues year-round, having such an event as Earth Day allows people who may not usually be exposed to those issues to be enlightened and learn better ways to extrapolate "Earth Day practices" ----such as recycling, planting trees, and picking up litter---- to other parts of their calendar.

The History
     The idea of Earth Day came to founder Gaylord Nelson, at the time a US Senator of Wisconsin, after witnessing the devastating 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, CA. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. Senator Nelson announced the idea for a "national teach-in on the environment" to the national media.
      As a result, on April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.
      Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. "It was a gamble," Gaylord recalled, "but it worked."
      Much like 1970, Earth Day 2010 came at a time of great challenge for the environmental community. Climate change deniers, well-fundedoil lobbyists, reticent politicians, a disinterested public, and a divided environmental community all contributed to a strong narrative that overshadowed the cause of progress and change. In spite of the challenge, for its 40th anniversary, Earth Day Network reestablished Earth Day as a powerful focal point around which people could demonstrate their commitment. Earth Day Network brought 225,000 people to the National Mall for a Climate Rally and launched an international, 1-million tree planting initiative with Avatar director James Cameron and tripled its online base to over 900,000 community members.
     The fight for a clean environment continues in a climate of increasing urgency, as the ravages of climate change become more manifest every day. We invite everyone to be a part of Earth Day and help write many more victories and successes to Earth Day's history. Discover energy you didn't know you had. Feel it rumble through the grassroots under your feet and the technology at your fingers. Channel it into building a clean, healthy, diverse world for generations to come.

A Day of Adventure
      There are many ways to celebrate Earth Day. We could recycle more and reduce the amount of energy we use (which also saves us money, as an added incentive). We could also reuse things that break, such as if a pot shatters we could use the pieces to make a mosaic picture frame, or if a pair of jeans gets ripped we could use it to make doll clothes or a chic denim pocketbook.
      For one thing, the way I celebrated Earth Day was fun and interesting. As my first organized event as the Environmental Commissioner for my college dorm, I hosted a Clean Our Lakes initiative, where we walked around the two lakes on campus wearing latex gloves and carrying garbage bags, picking up litter as we went. I set up this event because our lakes are absolutely stunning and yet I had always noticed litter whenever I visited. Even though I expected to find a substantial amount of litter today, I was not prepared for the shear multitude of trash per square foot. It is one thing to walk past litter and think "It is terrible that someone would leave their trash on the ground; someone should pick it up", but it is another thing to actually go through with the task of picking up the litter you come across.

      The funny thing, was that when my friend and I were picking up litter around the lakes, one of the resident Canadian geese came over to see what we were doing and began to follow us. I thought it was cute that s/he was swimming alongside us in the lake while we were on shore cleaning up, but when the goose left the water we calmly kept on walking. S/he seemed bent on bothering us, and when s/he caught up to us (I had stopped to take a picture of a box turtle), s/he hissed to let us know we were unwelcome. We kept picking up litter, but now with one eye on the goose trailing us, and ears aware to other signs of geese activity.

A picture of me picking up litter by Saint Mary's Lake. If I look awkward, it is because I was in the midst of a large Canadian goose posse and was wary of an ambush. Photos (this and above) taken by my friend on my camera. 

      No matter what you do to celebrate Earth Day, it should be something that you find fun and that fits with your lifestyle. If you enjoy what you do, then you are more likely to be good at it and to do it well.  On a side note, I also put bird seed outside my window for the local birds every Saturday, so as an extra Earth Day treat, I put more out today. I may blog about them soon, as soon as I can catch better pictures of them. 

      Earth Day is a special time to celebrate and protect our planet. Since the first Earth Day in 1970, there has been success but there is still much more to do. We can all help in many ways: picking up litter, planting trees, and saving energy.

The Bridge to Russia

My Universal Essay


      During my sophomore year of high school, I participated in the Russian Exchange Program offered at my school. Based on a worksheet I filled out describing my likes and dislikes, I was assigned a partner from a high school in Moscow. In November, she came to visit us in New York, where she would come with me to school and go site seeing with the rest of the Russian group during the day. Then in April, I went to Moscow and spent two weeks with her, going to school with her, and site seeing with my American group during the day. For a few days towards the end of her time here, her group went on a trip to Washington D.C., and while there my group and I went on a trip to Saint Petersburg for a few days. 
      It was such a great once in a lifetime experience for me, and I am so glad I did it. I enjoyed it so much, I wrote about it in one of the CommonApp essays that I sent to all the colleges I applied to. I pasted it below for you to read, and I think it does a better job explaining the program and what it means to me than I could in my previous paragraph:

     It is spring of my sophomore year, and I am spending two weeks with my Russian exchange partner, Masha Leonenko. I arrive at an airport, board a plane with my fellows classmates, and disembark at another airport. I wave goodbye to my family in New York, and wave hello to Masha’s family in Moscow. I leave my country behind and enter a new one, but I am to learn that while scenery and culture might change, people are constant.

I am surrounded by people different than me, but none are aliens. On my way to school with Masha, I notice, regardless of whether it is Tretyakovski Station or Grand Central Station, people pack into trains like sardines. Students in school put their jackets away in their lockers and spend the day in their designated classes. There are classes that Masha likes and classes that she does not, just as there are classes that I like and classes that I do not. I discuss the math problems on the board with my fellow American classmates also on the exchange, I listen along during History class, and I watch “The Great Gatsby” in English class. 

At night when I see the Russian production of “Monte Cristo”, it strikes the same spiritual chords as Broadway’s “The Phantom of the Opera”. I am proficient in Russian, but not fluent. However, when watching the Moscow production of “Monte Cristo”, the language barrier does not hinder the experience in the least. The emotions and tensions of the moment shine through the acting, voices, stage directions, and other visual cues. When my eyes close and I hear the music, am I in New York or Moscow?

When the wind blows, it still sends shivers down my spine. When it snows, it is still cold to my touch. The stunning museums I visit and my host family’s hospitality melt all stereotypes away. If I misbehave, I am not sent to a gulag labor camp. The KGB are not having me followed, and the Communists are not brainwashing me while I sleep. On Masha’s windowsill a rose blooms, and on her rug the ginger cat----Musya----plays with string. 

We are two different people living on opposite ends of the globe; Masha Leonenko and I have many differences. She is used to snowy days and city nights, whereas I am used to leafy days and cozy nights. She lives with the remnants of a controlled society but an evolving freedom and I with the spirit of a great society and beacon of freedom. She has blond hair and blue eyes, and I brown hair and brown eyes. She has a cat, and I have two dogs. Masha is an only child, while I am one of four. 

Even so, Masha Leonenko and I are mirror images. Our basis for joining the exchange program is the same; our love for culture and exploration through experiencing other languages, places and people. 

Russia and America are not the same; no two countries are. Each has their own blend of unique cultural characteristics. During our time together, Masha and I celebrate our differences, and they do not inhibit the growth of our friendship. This program is not a culture clash, but a culture mesh. My time in Russia teaches me that regardless of our national identities, we are all human. We are the same while we are different.

This is of me and a Russian man on Arbat (a strip of cobble stone streets with venders, restaurants, and shops), Moscow. He drew a magnificent charcoal sketch of me, which I am holding in the photo and still have hanging in my New York bedroom. 

This is of Masha Leonenko, my classmate's Russian partner, my classmate, and me (from left to right). We are on a tank featured in a War World II memorial park near Masha's flat. Another Russian student is taking the photo. 

      While it may not make sense why I included this on a blog which is supposed to be primarily about animals, no matter what interest we have in this world, I believe it is important to broaden our horizons to encompass the entire globe in our thought processes. Through the internet and phone services, the world is becoming an increasingly smaller place; in order to care about one another and the animals that live in other parts of the world, we must strive to learn about and respect other cultures, especially if doing so pulls us out of our comfort zone. 

Regulating Heat in the Cold

Keeping Warm in the Arctic

      On the plane a few weeks ago, I was watching the "Coastal Seas" episode of the Blue Planet series, and they mentioned ways in which warm blooded animals maintain their body temperature while living in such cold habitats, such as the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans. Then in my General Biology class, we have been learning about homeostasis and how animals physiologically maintain a balance within their bodies. Since a good amount of information from both sources overlap, I am going to describe those animals through what I have learned from both experiences.

      Walruses, when they first emerge on land to breed every year, their skin is a ghostly white. This is because they are warm blooded animals, and to conserve heat in a very cold ocean, must keep their blood concentrated in the core of their bodies. On land their outer vessels dilate, which turns their skin from white to pink. Then they can molt their skin by rubbing themselves against rocks, and no longer need to expend energy maintaining their body tempterature. In fact, conserving heat may be the main reason why so many sea dwelling mammals are forced to return to land each year.
      Elephant seals have really big noses (as you can see by the sketch of mine I have provided for you below), and I wondered why. Perhaps it serves to increase surface area within the nasal canal so the seal loses less heat and moisture to the surrounding environment. The elephant seal does live in the Antarctic Ocean, the coldest ocean in the world, so maintaining its body temperature would be a crucial aspect of its daily life.

      Not just in large nosed animals such as elephant seals, but with all endotherms (or animals which regulate their body temperature by producing heat metabolically or by using active mechanisms of heat loss), heat exchangers in the nasal passages are an excellent way to conserve both heat and moisture. During inspiration --while breathing in--, the air is warmed and saturated with water by evaporating water from the nose. Incoming air is warmed and humidified, thus cooling the nose. During expiration --while breathing out--, air is cool and loses water by condensation, which wets the nasal passage. Outgoing air is cooled and loses water, wetting the nose.
      Thus, you regain some of the water and heat that you lost when exhaling. However, it is not perfect because you will always lose some heat and water. Some water is recovered during exhalation by condensation on the cool surfaces of the nasal mucosa. Therefore, the longer and thinner the nasal passages, the more recovery. This would explain why elephant seals have such large nasal passages, but the fact that only the males have such large noses suggests there is sexual appeal behind that large nose, such as a bird's bright plumage or a lion's mane.


Lizards of the Sea: Galapagos Marine Iguana

      Cape Douglas in the West Galapagos is completely unprotected from the massive waves of the Pacific Ocean and is one of the roughest coasts in the world. The marine iguanas that live there are the only sea faring lizards, and they only eat seaweed.
      The local crabs over time have become flattened, which minimizes the effect of the waves on their balance. The iguanas have also adapted, but instead of shells they sport huge claws to grip to the rocks. Their diet is the ultimate "fast food", since they only have a few seconds to take a few mouthfuls of seaweed before the next breaker comes pounding in.
      While the females only feed on the rocks, the males will sometimes swim and dive to reach the weed. He can go as deep as ten meters, which is a desirable ability since there beyond the destructive waves are the best stores of seaweed. However, still being cold blooded, they need to return to land within ten minutes or so to warm up again in the sun. The males are bigger and thus more able to conserve their body temperature for a longer period of time, which might explain why only the males dive for food but not the smaller females.
      Some ectotherms (animals whose body temperature are determined primarily by external sources of heat), such as the marine iguana, regulate the blood flow to the skin. The Galapagos marine iguanas do this in order to alter their heating and cooling rates. As soon as the iguana enters the ocean, it begins to cool and its heart rate drops rapidly when it is cooling. However, when it leaves the ocean to bask on the hot rocks, the iguana's heart rate rises rapidly. The rate at which the iguana's body temperature warms is greater than the rate at which it cools, which is highly beneficial because it means the lizard can function for longer bouts of time under the waves and will have a shorter time needed for recovery between those bouts.
      The control of blood flow to the skin can be an important adaptation for an ectotherm such as the marine iguana (a reptile) of the Galapagos archipelago. The Galapagos are volcanic islands that lie on the equator but are bathed by cold ocean currents. The iguanas bask on hot black lava rocks on the shore, then enter the cold ocean water to feed on seaweed. When the iguanas are feeding, they cool to the temperature of the sea. This cooling lowers their metabolism, making them slower, more vulnerable to predators, and incapable of efficient digestion. They therefore alternate between feeding in the cold sea and basking on the hot rocks. It is advantageous for iguanas to retain body heat as long as possible when basking. They can accomplish these changes in heat transfer rates by changing their heart rate and the rate of blood flow to their skin.  

I did not take this picture, but found it on a Google Image search for "marine iguana". I chose this one because I liked how it showed the iguana basking with its head up high to increase the impact sunlight has on its body, and it included the local crabs and water in the background. 

      As a side note, just because I find these Galapagos marine iguanas so interesting, since the rocky shore is unsuitable to lay their eggs, the iguanas must journey inland to find a more suitable spot. The females lay their eggs in burrows to hatch from, and so they need soft sand. Although it is easy to escape danger in rocky crevices on the shore, on open sand inland they are extremely exposed to predators. Even so, if caught in the unrelenting talons of a Galapagos hawk, these lizards won't give up without a struggle.